Multiple have reported that the suspect responsible for Monday’s shocking assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey was a former member of the Turkish Police who was the subject of an investigation for his alleged involvement in July’s failed coup,

Authorities have identified the suspect as 22-year-old Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, a member of the Turkish capital’s riot police.

Footage taken by media at the event shows the clean shaven Altıntaş, who used his police ID to enter the gallery, wearing a suit and tie which are usually worn by police bodyguards, before brandishing his firearm and shooting the Russian Ambassador five times in the back.

Altıntaş is then heard shouting “Allahu Akbar!” – Arabic for “God is great!” and “You Russians destroyed Aleppo and Syria,” before he is killed by Turkish soldiers.

Ankara Mayor Ibrahim Melih Gökçek believes the motive behind the high-profile killing had more to do with Altıntaş’ following of an exiled Turkish preacher and former imam Fethullah Gülen, and not the Syrian conflict.

Bloodshed: An image of the gunman, lying dead on the floor of the art gallery, was posted on Twitter

Andrey Karlov (pictured) was about to give a speech at an art exhibition when the gunman burst in and began firing at him, shouting about the situation in Aleppo

Gülen lives in self-imposed exile in the Poconos after fleeing Turkey in 1999.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also accused Gülen of being behind the July coup attempt to overthrow his government and has demanded his extradition to Turkey.